The Italian Communications Ministry has recently issued a decree obliging Internet providers to adopt systems capable of swiftly blacking out child pornography websites. Italian Internet providers will have 60 days to adopt systems which can black out the sites within six hours of the Ministry’s order to do so. The decree has been issued almost ten years after parliament’s historic law against prostitution, pornography and sex tourism which exploits minors.
The Interior Ministry has set up a special squad to combat online child pornography, which uses information not only from law enforcement agencies but also from public and private organizations dedicated to fighting this kind of crime. One of these organizations is Meter, whose founder, Father Fortunato Di Noto, said the problem was not Italian Internet providers but those based abroad. Father Di Noto, who together with journalist Mario Campanella has successful campaigned to shut down thousands of sites, added that ‘efforts must be made on the level of the United Nations and involve all those countries which signed the Geneva Convention pact on the rights of children.’
‘Italian Internet providers have always been ready to collaborate against child pornography,’ Father Di Noto added. ‘The real problem is with foreign providers. There are even countries in Europe which for pseudo-cultural reasons are tolerant of this phenomenon, even if this type of tolerance is against the will of the majority of citizens in those countries.’
